Warning: SPOILERS lie ahead for Stranger Things season 4.
With many characters no longer amongst the living following the recent finale, one star is opening up about whether they're alive in Stranger Things season 5. Season 4 of the hit Netflix series proved to be the Duffer brothers' most ambitious yet with episodes featuring movie-length runtimes and confirmed the survival of David Harbour's Hopper from the explosive season 3 finale in the Russian underground base. The new Stranger Things season also revealed the survival of Matthew Modine's Dr. Brenner and his continued secretive work in anticipation of a new Upside Down threat.
The biggest takeaway from Stranger Things season 4 was the introduction of Vecna, a super-powered and horrifying entity living in the Upside Down who is seemingly killing teens at random in Hawkins. As the group raced to put a stop to his killing spree, they would not only learn the truth of his backstory as One, the original patient in Brenner's experiments sent to the Upside Down by a young Eleven, but also see the deaths of a few major characters, including Brenner himself. As development continues on the final chapter of the show, audiences aren't the only ones anxiously awaiting word on one character's fate in Stranger Things season 5.
Ahead of the final two episodes premiering on Netflix, actress Sadie Sink caught up with Deadline to break down Stranger Things season 4. When discussing Max's fate of initially dying and seemingly being brought back to life by Eleven, Sink revealed she doesn't even know if Max is alive going into season 5 and that the creators are remaining very tight-lipped. See what Sink said below:
"They’ve been very secretive about season five in general. We did have a conversation. They called me before I read the ninth episode because in the script it literally says that Max dies. So they called me beforehand and were like, ‘just warning you, this is in there, so you’re not like truly shocked.’ I have no idea what’s coming in five and what that looks like. Max’s storyline is very up in the air, ’cause obviously she’s in a coma and Eleven can’t find her in the void. So who knows where she is and what state she’s in."
Though teased by Sink herself in the lead up to the show's return, many audiences were left with an eyeful of tears as Max's initial death in Stranger Things season 4 at the hands of Vecna, with Eleven proving to be slightly too late to stop him from attacking her. The mood swiftly changed to hopeful as Millie Bobby Brown's heroine seemingly brought Max back to life while piggybacking her in the void, with the group all visiting her and Lucas in the hospital, where she lays in a coma. As Sink notes, Eleven did briefly enter the void while at the hospital in the hopes of helping her wake up, only to learn Max is nowhere in sight, leaving many audiences wondering where she could be and if Max is even actually alive.
Given Sink has confirmed she's returning for Stranger Things season 5 and that the various gates to the Upside Down around Hawkins have seemingly closed, many continue to argue that Max is still alive. With no timeline addressed on when season 5 could even begin production by those involved with the show, it seems both Sink and fans will have to wait for some time learn whether Max will come out of her coma alive or if there's something more devastating awaiting her in the final season. In the meantime, audiences can revisit the entirety of Stranger Things season 4 now streaming on Netflix.
Source: Deadline